It was an over-sized postcard, double-sided in a standout colors.

Nothing that interesting yet … However, what was interesting is the level of personalization they included in the direct mail piece.

(front)

(back)

“Japan just got a little bit closer” To many of you that might not mean anything, but to me it does.

I lived in Japan for many years and we make calls to Japan on a regular basis.

As a marketing guy this intrigued me. How did Shaw know about my connection to Japan?

Sure we use the phone to call Nagoya, Osaka, and other cities. But most of the time our calls are through Skype.

Just looking at the list of numbers we dial would reveal several countries.

Then it hit me. Not too long ago I mentioned to one of the support people at Shaw that I was interested in their Japanese channel. I didn’t purchase it because it’s $17 a month for one channel with very limited programming.

Nevertheless, it’s interesting to see how that one mention got entered into their customer database as a little piece of intelligence.

Did it make me buy? No. But I’m sure there are a good percentage of people that did. Shaw’s not only doing this for Japanese … I’m sure their going after other languages and countries as well.

No doubt there’s a ton of books written on the ‘new’ social media landscape and marketing strategies and techniques that
can be used effectively. And hey, that’s all good.

In fact, I not only believe a lot of what authors such as David Meerman Scott have written in their recent books – we’ve been putting some of these principles to work for our clients for quite some time.

What I found myself questioning the other day, is how can so many people say that the old direct response approach to selling products directly to consumers doesn’t work anymore…when the TV and magazines are filled with repeat advertisers hawking their wares.

The basic premise of direct-response is that you test a bunch of ads in different media. You take what generates the best results and then continually test different headlines, offers, guarantees, etc until you have a money making ad. Once you have that you run with it.

So here’s the thing ( I know this is clearly a rant, but anyways…) I’ve been seeing some direct response style ads for auto and home insurance, as well as for life insurance run for more than 6 months. I’ve seen one company run the same ad only with slight variations for close to a year.

Either these companies have found a winning ad and are raking the money in, or they’re a bunch of idiots losing money hand over fist. And if the former is the case, there’s no denying that effective direct-response advertising is still alive and well.

From the results we’ve been generating, the best recipe is using social media to leverage direct-response marketing principles. A lot more can be said on this last topic, but I’ve got to get running so we’ll leave it there for the moment.

This is one of the best presentations I’ve seen for its length.

Often times business owners, and I’ve encountered many over the years, are cynical of the prospects that  infomercial direct-response style advertising works.

They say …

The language is “too strong” or “too salesy”. The fact is, it works. That’s why there will always be some marketers whose advertising will stand head and shoulders above the rest – their ads generate higher response than the naysayers.

By no means would I push a client to continually ‘advertise’ in a way they aren’t comfortable with. It’s their business and they have the right to present their communications in any way they want.

But it’s our responsibility as marketers, consultants and advisers to show our clients why, in this case, the direct-response approach often works so much better than the toned down message of the masses that gets lost before the market has a chance to really hear it – and when they do its messages are so fuzzy they fade into the sky with all the rest.

Check out Rohit’s presentation below:

According to Gary Halbert that is. Does he know what he’s talking about? Yes siree. Gary Halbert passed away a year ago. But he was easily one of the smartest and most effective copywriters on the planet.

Ken Mcarthy has put up a bunch of videos online of Gary Halbert. Some shorter, some longer. But the message in this video is worth more than what you likely earn in 1 hour – and you’ll learn it in minutes.

 It may sound like common sense, but give it some good thought and remember what Gary says,
“The Internet Is Only A Delivery System”.

Don’t worry. I know it sounds like I’m trying to sell you something, but I assure you I’m not. All it is is an introduction to a great video of him I just found.

If you’ve followed my work and writings over the years you’ll know I’m a big believer in the power of having a guarantee to increase sales. And not just some fluffy text in miniscule type. But one that stands out and means something.

Well, here is Dan Kennedy delivering his personal guarantee for his products. Enjoy, it’s live and it works!

Look for the little conversion secret he delivers near the end of the video.

An increasing number of our clients, especially over the last two years, have asked for our help with their Adwords campaigns. Actually, about 70% of them didn’t even have an account set up … so we often start from scratch.

As you get more and more advanced with Google Adwords you quickly see how effective a marketing tool it can be, but also how advanced it can get. This video below not only gives you a high-level technique that works … but also brings home the reality that not everything will work for everyone.

That’s what testing is for, right?

This one looks at a challenge many large companies face and most do nothing about. But the company in the case study, Business Objects, did.

I’m happy about this for 2 reasons: 1) Business Objects is based in Vancouver, where I live (although they were recently acquired by SAP, and  2) the company clearly proved that direct response marketing deserves a seat (if not the Vice-President’s chair) at the main table.

Here’s why …

The case focused on a software download page for one of the company’s products. Clearly the website had been developed by a ‘professional design’ firm. They had strict design guidelines in place. For those of you not familiar with this … these guidelines are like a set of rules showing what colors, fonts, images, positioning of elements, etc you can and can not use in your materials.While the guidelines are created to keep a consistent image in place … they also allowed for little flexibility.

No change means no improvement.

Us direct response marketers know, flexibility is key as it is part of testing mentality. Lucky for Business Objects one of their employees was smart enough to push for the budget and knock the design and branding team out so they could make the needed changes to test the page for improvements.

And improvements they did see. In fact, the two new test pages brought in a 32% and 17% improvement.

Think about this for a minute. Most companies are led to believe that ‘the prettiest’ and ‘most professional’ looking website or materials are mandatory. My thoughts on that? Bull***t!

Without continual testing and a flexible approach you’ll never see the true potential of your business. That’s why this case study is such a breath of fresh air … it proves that big business can and should implement direct response techniques throughout the biz.

It doesn’t have to be done company-wide off the bat. But gradually over time. Imagine what a continual 32% improvement would do for your business …

Access to the full Marketing Sherpa article is open until September 17th
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=30820&pop=no

To your success,
Michael Zipursky

The survey, conducted by the Association of National Advertisers, polled 100 marketers across several industries. While some will surely wonder whether on hundred respondents is enough to make this statistically valid — evidence that this is true is all around us.

You see, every time the economy faces a downturn marketers get wary. They hold back. Waiting. Until the landscape settles.

There are couple of massive problems with this.

The Best Time To Stand Out
1) During a period when many are cutting their ad spending back … is a time that is also ripe for you to make your mark.

Think about it. When your competitors are less visible, it’s easier for you to stand out. Fewer of their ads can equal more of yours.

Of course, more ads all by itself won’t make you a winner.

And that brings me to the second critical point.

Ad Spending Should Never Be Cut
2) Why are you cutting your ad spending? When I say ad spending, I’m also referring to your online and offline activities … PR, Marketing, all that. So again, why cut spending?

There can only really be one answer, right? The ads aren’t profitable.

So if your company is running ad after ad, month after month and seeing no results, no profit — clearly you’ll need to cut your advertising spend. Heck, there’s no need to wait for the media or government to tell you that the economy is in downturn to cut back.

Just think about it. If your advertising is profitable, regardless of the state of the economy, you’re going to keep running those ads until they stop bringing in a profit.

That doesn’t mean you’ll stop your advertising though. It just means you’ll promote your goods in a different way, or maybe put the spotlight on a different product.

To do all this you need to use a certain kind of advertising. It’s called direct response.

With direct response advertising you’ll know down to the dollars and cents when a promotion is profitable. You’ll know if you’re breaking even, or losing money.

Throughout a campaign you adjust your promotion so with each run (whether online or in print) you continuously fine tune what you’ve got until it’s pumping out gold every time you use it.

How big of an impact can this have?
In a campaign for a recent client we ran a test panel of 3 ads. The second ad got 1.5x more responses than the first. The third got almost double. Without tracking and testing the client may have ran the same ad 3 times. And killed response.

Clearly Foolish
It’s no wonder that so many marketers are having to cut their budgets. Unless your a billion dollar company it’s pretty hard to justify spending money on advertising without knowing what’s specifically working and what isn’t.

And I’m not excusing these companies either. Really there’s no excuse for companies and ad agencies that keep flooding the market with creative and ‘cool’ advertising that isn’t measurable.

That’s enough for today I suppose. You’re probably tired of my rant. But seriously. Don’t follow the pack and cut your ad spending because that’s ‘what you’re supposed to be doing’. The greatest gains are made from doing what others aren’t.

Don’t drown your ads, get smart with them. That’s what direct-response is for. And that’s why it’s made fortunes for so many.

Until next time.

To your success,

Michael Zipursky

Two brothers in Maine have created a new program where you can own your own lobster trap. Everything that is caught in that trap during a whole year’s season is yours. 

They guarantee you’ll get at least 48 delightful crustaceans weighing on average 1.5lbs each.

Plus, you also get clams, mussels, and other wonders from the Atlantic.

Don’t eat seafood? Hey, that’s okay. And I won’t even ask why. But there is a big marketing lesson here.

These two brothers have run with a classic strategy that works. They’ve take the structure and model of “own your own olive tree” or apple, or vineyard section, etc. These biz models are popping up all over the place.

People like to call something their own. It’s impressive, and if you like wine, apples, olive oil, or lobsters it’s a good deal.

They definitely charge you a premium here. In the case of the lobsters they charge $2,995 a year. 48 lobsters minimum at $15/lb (let’s say standard price), that’s $22.50 per lobster and $1080 for 48. But these guys give you so much more, a long list of goodies (see their website here).

When you ad it all up does it equal the $2,995 price tag. Probably not, but you’re getting a piece of “ownership” and this is what people love buying into. 

You see, these guys have recognized that they’re better off not just selling a product. They’re selling a whole experience and memories around that … and people are happy to pay good dollars in return.

Ask yourself, can this model be used in my business in anyway?

To your success,

Michael Zipursky